View into the larger of the two impressive explosion craters formed during the 1879 eruption on the northeastern and eastern side of Monte Pizzillo, 9 September 2002. This crater has a maximum diameter of 350 m and is more than 80 m deep, testifying to the explosivity of the eruption that generated it. The outcrop of partially stratified reddish scoriae in left (western) crater wall actually is not a product of the 1879 eruption but is a section through pre-existing pyroclastics that most likely were deposited during the eruption of yet another crater, on the north side of Monte Pizzillo, which postdates the formation of this latter in about A.D. 970

Mamma Etna's countless children
1879 craters and eruptive fissure
NE flank, 15.012421° E, 37.794226° N
Summit elevation: 2332 m (E rim of largest crater)

In late May and early June 1879, a spectacular and complex eruption occurred at Mount Etna. The activity started high on the southwest flank of the volcano and then extended across the summit to the Northeast Rift, where intense explosive activity high on the rift was accompanied by lava emission from a fissure segment about 2 km further downrift (to the west of Monte Nero). The exact location of the main explosive vents has been subject to a major error, made after the eruption and maintained in nearly all publications (including topographic maps) through today. In fact, the large explosion craters formed during that eruption were named "Crateri Umberto e Margherita" after the then-reigning King of Italy and his wife; this name was subsequently applied to a pair of craters lying about 1.3 km northeast of Monte Pizzillo, and in a much more easterly position than the trend of the lowermost portion of the 1879 fissure near Monte Nero. From contemporary sources describing the eruption, Tanguy (1979) inferred that the explosive vents of the 1879 eruption lay actually somewhat higher on the Northeast Rift, on the northeastern and eastern flank of Monte Pizzillo and coincide with two impressive craters that bite deeply in the older Monte Pizzillo cone. Eyewitness accounts of the 1879 eruption emphasize on the unusually strong explosive activity, which caused heavy ash falls in surrounding areas. In his re-examination of the event, Tanguy (1979) found that the two craters indicated on more recent topographic maps as "Crateri Umberto e Margherita" are too small to correspond to the descriptions of such a strong explosive activity, whereas the two large craters on the side of Monte Pizzillo fit that description quite well. Furthermore the contemporary reports place the site of the explosive activity rather in that area than further downrift, and finally the "Crateri Umberto e Margherita" lie too far east to coincide with the trend of the 1879 fissure, whereas the craters near Monte Pizzillo lie exactly on that trend.
The two craters on the eastern-northeastern side of Monte Pizzillo are truly of huge proportions, testifying to extraordinarily strong explosive activity. The smaller and more southerly (uprift) of the craters has a diameter of about 180 m and a depth of 30 m below its low east rim and 70 m below the high W rim (which coincides with the summit of Monte Pizzillo). Immediately to the NNE lies the second and much larger crater, with a maximum depth of 70 m and a N-S diameter of 350 m while the E-W diameter is about 260 m. In spite of the size of these craters and the intense explosive activity, no major pyroclastic cones were built around them; their activity was rather destructive since it tore away much of the eastern-northeastern flank of Monte Pizzillo. In some places in the walls of the 1879 craters there are outcrops of pre-exisiting pyroclastic deposits that were laid down first during the eruption that created Monte Pizzillo in A.D. ~970 and then by another eruption that opened a new crater on the north side of Monte Pizzillo.
My first visit to the 1879 craters was in September 1999 and I returned three years later. The photos on this page were taken during those visits. In contrast, I visited the lower effusive vents near Monte Nero in May 2000 and again in May 2002 and July 2003.

The smaller and more southerly of the two enormous explosion craters of 1879 is seen in these two images taken on 9 September 2002, just a few weeks before a new eruption occurred on the Northeast Rift. Left image shows the southeastern wall of the crater, which culminates in the summit of Monte Pizzillo. In the photograph at right, a group of excursionists walks on the eastern rim of that crater, rendering an impression of its dimensions. The summit area with the Northeast Crater is in the background

The more northerly and larger of the two 1879 craters is shown in these photographs, taken on 22 September 1999 (left) and 9 September 2002 (center and right). The sheer size of this 350 m-diameter crater is impressive. These views are from south (left), east (center) and northeast (right)

About 2 km downrift from the large explosion craters, and about 400 m west of Monte Nero, there lies the lower end of the 1879 fissure system on the northeast flank of Etna. These are constituted by low spatter mounds and ramparts that occupy the lower portion of the channel on the east side of Monte Timparossa. Several effusive vents emitted lava that merged into a narrow flow, which advanced rapidly toward the Alcantara valley and eventually reached a total length of 9.5 km.

The lowermost vents on the effusive portion of the 1879 fissure system near Monte Nero are seen in these photographs taken in late May 2002 (left) and in early May 2000 (center and right). Note the low spatter ramparts built around these vents and well-defined effusive vent shown in right photograph

Left: lava flow-channel formed immediately below an effusive vent, showing peculiar surface features of the latest lava to flow through the channel. Photo taken in early May 2000 Center: one of the largest vents in the lower portion of the 1879 eruptive fissure system, near the northeast base of Monte Timparossa. Photo taken late May 2002 Right: a small spatter cone formed still further downslope, about 400 m NW of Monte Nero. Dark lavas in the background are of 1911 and 1923, whereas the poorly vegetated lavas in the foreground are mostly of a small eruption in 1643. Photo taken early May 2000

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Copyright © Boris Behncke, "Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology"